Universal Islands of Adventure!
We got up at 6:30 because we were going to Universal Islands of Adventure for Caleb’s birthday weekend. Pippin was going to be staying at the kennel right at the park. Immediately upon arriving we went straight to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. I fell in love with Dr. Seuss land and had to stop several times to take pictures.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter –
We saw Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey which was really cool and then walked around Hogsmeade for a while. We liked the wand choosing interactive, and enjoyed the shops. The Flight of the Hippogryph was a long line for a fairly small and unimpressive children’s roller coaster. We liked the Frog Choir, but I didn’t want to go on the Dragon Challenge. We split a Butterbeer. During the rest of the day we went on the Spiderman Adventure, which may have been our favorite. The Jurasic River Adventure was closed for the day, and the Discovery Center didn’t do much for us but we did get to meet a Raptor.
We did the Poseidon’s Fury show but it was a bit old fashioned although the water tunnel was amazing. We waited in line for what we thought was a Sneetches show, but it ended up being a trolley train ride. We ate lunch at the Mythos restaurant.
Back for day two to Universal Studios and Pip to the kennel again. We immediately went to Diagon Alley and rode the Escape from Gringotts ride. It was even better than the Forbidden Journey the day before. The Gringotts Bank inside was great. Then we wandered around Diagon Alley which was even better than Hogwarts/Hogsmead. The Knight Bus was delightful and Diagon Alley was awesome. The dragon on Gringotts, the shops were awesome. We really loved Knocturn Alley, which we almost didn’t even find. We loved the dark wizardry shop and other places.
We rode the MIB ride which involved shooting aliens and that was kind of fun, and then we did the Krusty the Klown ride (Simpsons). It as amazing, but I closed my eyes because the 3D motion was making me sick. We rode the Mummy ride which was pretty good, the Shrek ride which was cute, but a little antiquated (theatre with bumpy seats) and then we rode the Rock-It roller coaster which was really a good one. Went back to Diagon Alley and had ice cream – I had vanilla marmalade, and Caleb had a salted taffy and strawberry sundae. Then we caught the Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees show which was fun. All in all a fantastic couple of days at two very fun amusement parks.
Caleb’s Birthday
I am sick. We were going to have a nice dinner tonight of Caleb’s choice but I am really sick. Too much fun the day before. I actually end up at Urgent Care the next day before we leave for Hobe Sound. Shitty ending to a wonderful weekend. All good things must end.